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BULLETIN 

OF  THE 

FIRST  DISTRICT  NORMAL  SCHOOL 

KIRKSVILLE,  MISSOURI 


Volume  XVI  y,  Number  4 

APRIL,  1916 


Publisht  Monthly 


The  Place  of  the  Normal  School  in  the  Prepa- 
ration of  High  School  History  Teachers 


History  and  Government  Series 
No.  5 


BULLETIN 

OF  THE 

FIRST  DISTRICT  NORMAL  SCHOOL 

KIRKSVILLE,  MISSOURI 


Founded  by  Joseph  Baldwin 

AS  THE  North  Missouri  Normal  School,  September  2,  1867 

Adopted  as  the  First  District  Normal  School,  December  29,  1870 
UNDER  Act  of  the  General  Assembly,  Approved  March  19,  1870 

Opend  as  the  First  District  Normal  School,  January  1,  1871 


Volume  XVI 

Number  4 

APRIL, 

19  16 

Publisht  Monthly  by  the 
First  District  Normal  School 


THE  place  of  the  NORMAL  SCHOOL  IN 
THE  PREPARATION  OF  HIGH  SCHOOL 
HISTORY  TEACHERS 


REPORT  OF  A SPECIAL  COMMITTEE  TO  THE  MISSISSIPPI 
VALLEY  HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION 


History  and  Government  Series,  No.  5 


Enterd  as  second  class  mail  matter  April  29,  1915,  at  the  post  oflBce  at  Kirksville,  Missouri, 
under  the  Act  of  Congress  of  August  24,  1912. 


The  following  report  was  prepared  by  a special  Committee 
of  the  Mississippi  Valley  Historical  Association  on  ‘‘The  Place 
of  the  Normal  School  in  the  Preparation  of  High  School  History 
Teachers”,  and  was  submitted  to  this  Association  at  the  Nash- 
ville meeting  held  April  27-29,  1916.  It  was  adopted  unani- 
mously. 

Tn  order  that  greater  circulation  may  be  given  to  the  report 
than  it  will  have  thru  the  Proceedings  of  the  Mississippi  Valley 
Historical  Association,  the  Division  of  History  and  Government 
of  the  First  District  Normal  School  at  Kirksville,  Missouri,  issues 
it  as  one  of  its  bulletins.  Copies  may  be  had  on  application. 


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f; 

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THE  PLACE  OF  THE  NORMAL  SCHOOL  IN 
THE  PREPARATION  OF  HIGH  SCHOOL 
HISTORY  TEACHERS 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  Historical 
Association  held  at  Omaha  in  May,  1913,  the  Committee  on 
Certification  of  High  School  Teachers  of  History,  in  the  report 
which  they  submitted  at  that  time,  recommended  among  other 
things  that  a special  committee  be  appointed  to  consider  the 
place  of  the  Normal  School  in  preparing  high  school  history  teach- 
ers. The  recommendation  was  acted  upon  favorably  by  the 
Executive  Committee  of  this  Association,  and  President  James 
A.  James  appointed  the  following  Normal  School  men  and  women 
to  serve  as  a special  committee  on  “The  Place  of  the  Normal  School 
in  the  Preparation  of  High  School  History  Teachers’’:  E.  M.  Vio- 
lette,  Kirksville,  Mo.,  Chairman;  Sara  M.  Riggs,  Cedar  Falls, 
la.;  Pelagius  M.  Williams,  Emporia,  Kan.;  Edward  C.  Page, 
DeKalb,' 111. ; Claude  N.  Anderson,  Kearney,  Neb.;  S.  E.  Thomas, 
Charleston,  111. ; Carl  E.  Pray,  Ypsilanti,  Mich. 

This  Committee  at  once  drafted  a questionnaire  and  sent  it 
to  the  150  Normal  Schools  of  the  country  that  are  supported  in 
part  or  wholly  by  state  funds.  It  was  not  sent  to  city  Normal 
Schools  nor  to  Normal  Schools  for  negro  teachers.  A copy  of 
this  questionnaire  is  submitted  in  the  appendix  to  this  report. 

By  dint  of  persistent  effort  the  Committee  succeeded  in 
getting  returns  from  97  of  the  150  schools  to  which  the  question- 
naire was  sent.  These  97  schools  are  located  in  40  different  states. 
Their  distribution  among  the  states  is  as  follows: 

Alabama,  2;  Arkansas,  1;  Arizona,  1;  California,  5;  Colorado,  2;  Con- 
necticut, 2;  Georgia,  1;  Idaho,  1;  Indiana,  1;  Illinois,  5;  Iowa,  1;  Kansas,  3; 
Kentucky,  1;  Missouri,  4;  Minnesota,  5;  Maine,  1;  Massachusetts,  7;  Michi- 
gan, 3;  Maryland,  1;  New  York,  7;  New  Hampshire,  2;  North  Dakota,  1; 
New  Mexico,  1;  Nebraska,  2;  New  Jersey,  1;  North  Carolina,  1;  Oregon,  1; 
Ohio,  2;  Oklahoma,  4;  Pennsylvania,  7;  Rhode  Island,  1;  South  Carolina,  1; 
South  Dakota,  3;  Texas,  2;  Tennessee,  1;  Vermont,  2;  Virginia,  1;  West  Vir- 
ginia, 4;  Washington,  1;  Wisconsin,  5. 

From  an  examination  of  the  returns  it  was  readily  discovered 
that  the  Normal  Schools  of  the  country  might  be  divided  into 
three  groups;  first,  those  that  confine  themselves  wholly  to  the 
preparation  of  elementary  school  teachers;  second,  those  that 

3 


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give  practically  their  entire  attention  to  the  preparation  of  ele- 
mentary school  teachers  and  prepare  high  school  teachers  only 
incidentally;  third,  those  that  make  a distinct  effort  to  prepare 
high  school  teachers  as  well  as  elementary  school  teachers. 

It  was  also  found  that  the  97  schools  that  responded  to  the 
questionnaire  were  divided  almost  evenly  among  these  three 
groups,  31  in  the  first  group,  33  in  the  second,  and  33  in  the  third. 
The  geographical  distribution  of  the  97  schools  in  these  three 
groups  is  as  follows: 

I.  The  31  schools  reporting  that  they  are  confining  them- 
selves wholly  to  the  preparation  of  elementary  school  teachers, 
represent  12  different  states.  The  number  of  such  schools  in 
each  of  these  12  states  is  as  follows: 

California,  5;  Connecticut,  2;  Colorado,  1;  Idaho,  1;  Massachusetts,  7; 
Minnesota,  5;  New  York,  2;  New  Hampshire,  2;  North  Dakota,  1;  Oregon, 
1;  Ohio,  1;  Rhode  Island,  1;  Vermont,  2. 

(The  Normal  Schools  in  California,  Minnesota,  and  Vermont 
are  compelled  by  law  to  confine  themselves  to  the  work  of  pre- 
paring teachers  for  the  elementary  schools.) 

Of  these  31  schools,  7 are  in  3 Mississippi  Valley  States,  Minnesota,  North 
Dakota,  and  Ohio;  16  are  in  6 Eastern  States,  Connecticut,  Massachusetts, 
New  York,  New  Hampshire,  Rhode  Island,  and  Vermont;  8 are  in  4 Western 
States,  California,  Colorado,  Idaho,  and  Oregon. 

II.  The  33  schools  reporting  that  they  are  giving  practically 
their  entire  attention  to  the  preparation  of  elementary  school 
teachers  and  are  preparing  high  school  teachers  only  incidentally, 
represent  16  states.  The  number  of  such  schools  in  each  of  these 
16  states  is  as  follows: 

Alabama,  2;  Arkansas,  1;  Arizona,  1;  Georgia,  1;  Illinois,  3;  Maryland, 
1;  Michigan,  1;  Maine,  1;  New  York,  4;  New  Mexico,  1;  New  Jersey,  1; 
Pennsylvania,  7;  South  Dakota,  3;  Virginia,  1;  Washington,  1;  West  Vir- 
ginia, 4. 

Of  these  33  schools,  8 are  in  4 Mississippi  Valley  States,  Arkansas,  Illi- 
nois, Michigan,  South  Dakota;  22  are  in  9 Eastern  States,  Alabama,  Georgia, 
Maryland,  Maine,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  West  Vir- 
ginia; 3 are  in  3 Western  States,  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  Washington. 

III.  The  33  schools  reporting  that  they  make  a definite 
effort  to  prepare  high  school  teachers  as  well  as  elementary  school 
teachers,  represent  17  states.  The  number  of  such  schools  in 
each  of  these  17  states  is  as  follows: 


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Colorado,  1;  Iowa,  1;  Indiana,  1;  Illinois,  2;  Kentucky,  1;  Kansas,  3; 
Missouri,  4;  Michigan,  2;  New  York,  1;  Nebraska,  2;  North  Carolina,  1; 
Oklahoma,  4;  Ohio,  1;  South  Carolina,  1;  Texas,  2;  Tennessee,  1;  Wisconsin,  5. 

Of  these  33  schools,  29  are  in  13  Mississippi  Valley  States,  Iowa,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Kentucky,  Kansas,  Missouri,  Michigan,  Nebraska,  Oklahoma,  Ohio,  * 
Texas,  Tennsessee,  Wisconsin;  3 are  in  3 Eastern  States,  New  York,  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina;  1 is  in  1 Western  State,  Colorado. 

From  this  tabulation  it  is  readily  seen  that  Groups  I and 
II  are  made  up  largely  of  the  Normal  Schools  in  the  Eastern 
and  the  Western  States  and  that  Group  III  is  almost  altogether 
made  up  of^the  Normal  Schools  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  In 
other  words  the  Normal  Schools  of  the  Eastern  and  the  Western 
States^are  given  largely  to  the  work  of  preparing  elementary 
school  teachers,  while  the  Normal  Schools  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley  are  undertaking  to  prepare  high  school  teachers  as  well  as 
elementary  school  teachers.  It  may  be  assumed  that  if  the  re- 
turns had  been  received  from  all  of  the  150  schools  to  which  the 
questionnaire  was  sent,  the  proportionate  distribution  of  the  150 
among  the  three  groups  would  be  about  the  same  as  it  is  in  the 
case  of  the  97  schools. 

The  marked  variations  among  Normal  Schools  as  regards 
this  one  matter  is  suggestive  of  the  fundamental  differences  that 
exist  among  these  institutions,  and  of  the  difficulty  of  giving  a 
definition  of  a Normal  School  that  will  apply  to  them  all.  The 
definition  of  a college  has  long  been  agreed  upon.  A college  must 
have  a certain  amount  of  endowment  or  fixed  support;  it  must 
have  a faculty  of  at  least  a certain  number  and  an  equipment  of 
certain  character;  it  must  require  of  its  students  a certain  amount 
of  work,  usually  120  semester  hours  during  a period  of  four  years. 
Every  institution  that  purports  to  be  a college  can  be  readily 
measured  by  the  standards  that  have  been  widely  accepted. 

But  this  is  not  the  case  with  Normal  Schools  because  there 
are  so  many  different  kinds  of  Normal  Schools  and  because  there 
is  no  agreement  among  Normal  School  authorities  as  to  what  the 
standards  should  be  for  such  institutions.  A few  Normal 
Schools  are  virtually  high  schools  with  a department  of  education 
or  pedagogy  attached;  such  schools  constitute  one  extreme  type. 
A few  are  attempting  to  offer  a four  years  teachers  college  course 
beyond  the  four  years  high  school  course ; they  constitute  the  other 
extreme  type.  The  majority  of  them  however  fall  between  these 


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two  extremes  and  are  undertaking  to  do  two  or  three  years  of 
teachers  college  work  beyond  the  four  years  high  school  course. 
Moreover  most  of  the  Normal  Schools  have  large  preparatory 
departments  covering  or  paralleling  the  entire  high  school  course. 

Since  therefore  there  is  no  agreement  among  educational 
authorities  as  to  the  definition  of  a Normal  School  and  since  there 
is  no  uniformity  among  Normal  Schools  as  regards  their  standards 
and  requirements,  it  follows  that  the  problem  before  this  commit- 
tee is  a very  complicated  one.  Fortunately  however  the  problem 
is  somewhat  simplified  by  the  fact  that  fully  one  third  of  the 
Normal  Schools  of  the  country  confine  their  efforts  exclusively 
to  the  preparation  of  elementary  school  teachers  and  another 
third  give  practically  all  their  energy  to  the  same  work  and  pre- 
pare high  school  teachers  only  incidentally.  With  two  thirds  of 
the  Normal  Schools  thus  eliminated  from  our  survey,  the  question 
before  the  Committee  resolves  itself  into  this  form:  1.  What 
preparation  should  be  made  by  high  school  history  teachers  for 
their  work;  2.  To  what  extent  do  these  Normal  Schools  that 
definitely  undertake  to  prepare  history  teachers  for  high  schools 
succeed  in  giving  their  students  the  preparation  that  conforms 
to  the  standards  which  this  committee  approves? 

As  regards  the  first  of  these  two  propositions,  this  committee 
would  accept  or  approve  no  standard  lower  than  that  which  has 
been  set  up  by  the  Committee  of  this  Association  on  the  Certifica- 
tion of  High  School  History  Teachers.  A brief  restatement  of 
the  most  essential  parts  of  that  report  as  made  in  May,  1913,  may 
be  well  made  here  so  that  the  position  of  this  committee  may  be 
clearly  understood. 

The  Committee  on  the  Certification  of  High  School  His- 
tory Teachers  declared  that  the  Mississippi  Valley  Historical 
Association  ought  not  to  countenance  the  appointment  in  our 
high  schools  of  persons  who  have  not  completed  a standard  college 
course  which  later  in  the  report  was  defined  as  one  whose  studies 
stretch  over  four  years  and  aggregate  about  120  semester  hours 
or  points.  The  Committee  held  that  those  who  intend  to  teach 
history  in  high  schools  should  give  from  25  to  40  of  the  120  se- 
mester hours  or  points  to  history.  Altho  there  was  no  attempt 
to  prescribe  hard  and  fast  regulations  which  should  always  be 
observed  in  detail,  the  committee  suggested  that  these  25  to  40 


semester  hours  devoted  to  history  might  be  distributed  as  fol- 
lows: 1.  Survey  or  general  introductory  courses  during  the  first 
two  years — such  as  European  or  Medieval  and  Modern  History 
in  the  Freshman  year,  and  American  History  in  the  Sophomore 
year — to  the  amount  of  12  hours;  2.  Advanced  or  special  courses, 
20  hours;  3.  Methods  of  teaching  history,  2 to  4 hours;  4.  Pro- 
seminary  courses,  2 to  6 hours.  In  addition  to  this  work  the 
Committee  recommended  that  prospective  high  school  history 
teachers  should  devote  some  time  to  subjects  related  to  history, 
such  as  political  science,  political  economy,  and  sociology.  It 
also  took  account  of  the  preparation  in  psychology  and  pedagogy 
commonly  fixed  by  university  regulation  or  state  law  and  re- 
quired of  all  candidates  for  the  teaching  profession.  (Proceed- 
ings of  the  Mississippi  Valley  Historical  Association,  1912-13, 
pages  23-32.) 

The  Conunittee  on  the  Place  of  the  Normal  School  in  the 
Preparation  of  High  School  History  Teachers  is  in  substantial 
agreement  with  the  standards  set  up  by  the  Committee  whose 
report  has  just  been  summarized.  There  may  be  good  reasons 
for  differing  with  that  committee  in  some  of  the  details  of  its 
recommendations.  For  example,  it  may  be  better  for  those  who 
are  preparing  to  teach  history  in  the  high  school  to  spend  more 
than  12  semester  hours  upon  survey  or  general  courses  in  history. 
The  Committee  on  Certification  itself  expressed  some  doubts  upon 
that  very  point.  Since  nearly  all  the  high  schools  are  organized 
nowadays  with  three  or  four  year  courses  in  history,  it  may  be 
quite  advisable  for  those  who  are  preparing  to  teach  these  courses 
to  pursue  college  courses  that  cover  in  a general  way  the  same 
fields  that  are  studied  in  the  high  school  courses.  If  instead  of 
12  hours  being  spent  in  pursuing  survey  or  general  courses,  some- 
thing like  18  or  24  hours  are  devoted  to  that  sort  of  work,  then 
the  number  of  hours  recommended  for  special  courses  would  be 
correspondingly  cut  down. 

Again,  there  may  be  some  doubt  as  to  the  advisability  or 
desirability  of  introducing  any  pro-seminary  courses  in  the  under- 
graduate work.  Even  admitting  that  such  courses  would  be 
beneficial  to  the  prospective  high  school  history  teacher,  there 
would  be  no  justification  in  considering  them  absolutely  neces- 
sary. The  function  of  the  high  school  teacher  is  that  of  teaching. 


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and  not  of  investigation.  Pro-seminary  courses  in  history  are 
therefore  not  to  be  considered  as  indispensable  in  the  preparation 
of  high  school  history  teachers. 

Notwithstanding  the  difference  in  details,  this  Committee 
agrees  in  general  with  the  Committee  on  Certification  as  to  the 
requirements  it  laid  down.  The  candidate  for  a position  as  teacher 
of  history  in  the  high  school  ought  to  have  completed  a standard 
college  or  teachers  college  course  of  four  years  whose  studies 
stretch  over  four  years  and  aggregate  about  120  semester  hours, 
and  he  ought  to  have  devoted  25  to  40  of  the  semester  120  hours 
to  history. 

As  far  as  general  requirements  for  high  school  teachers  are 
concerned,  the  North  Central  Association  of  Colleges  and  Second- 
ary Schools  i3  in  accord  with  the  Committee  on  Certification  and 
with  this  special  Committee.  The  standard  of  the  North  Central 
Association  which  is  published  in  its  Proceedings  every  year 
says  that  the  ‘‘minimum  attainment  of  teachers  of  academic  sub- 
jects shall  be  equivalent  to  graduation  from  a college  belonging 
to  the  North  Central  Association  of  Colleges  and  Secondary 
Schools.  This  requires  the  completion  of  a four  years  course  of 
study  or  120  semester  hours,  in  advance  of  a standard  four  years 
high  school  course,  and  includes  at  least  eleven  hours  in  educa- 
tion”. 

Gradually  this  standard  of  preparation  is  being  adopted  in 
the  high  schools  and  it  is  becoming  more  and  more  difficult  for 
one  to  secure  or  to  hold  a position  in  the  better  high  schools  unless 
he  has  attained  to  this  standard.  But  there  are  at  present  many 
high  school  history  teachers  doing  very  good  and  effective  work 
whose  preparation,  both  general  and  special,  is  less  than  that 
which  has  just  been  stated  and  approved.  Many  of  these  teachers 
prepared  themselves  for  their  work  wholly  in  Normal  Schools 
that  require  less  than  120  hours  for  graduation,  and  are  to  be 
found  not  only  in  small  high  schools  but  also  in  some  of  the  large 
city  high  schools  as  well.  It  must  also  be  admitted  that  many 
high  school  history  teachers  who  have  formally  complied  with 
the  approved  standards  of  preparation  for  their  work  as  stated 
above,  are  nevertheless  failures.  But  in  most  cases  inefficiency  in 
history  teaching  is  due  to  lack  of  adequate  preparation,  and  the 
time  has  come  when  nothing  less  than  the  standards  which  have 


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just  been  stated  will  be  satisfactory.  The  demands  upon  the  high 
school  teachers  are  becoming  more  exacting  and  the  study  of 
history  is  becoming  more  nearly  scientific,  so  that  if  history  is  to 
hold  its  own  with  the  other  subjects  that  are  crowding  our  high 
school  curricula,  the  educational  institutions  that  undertake  to 
prepare  high  school  history  teachers  must  see  to  it  that  such  teach- 
ers are  given  opportunity  to  qualify  themselves  according  to  the 
standards  which  have  been  defined  by  the  Committee  on  Certifi- 
cation and  approved  by  this  Committee. 

Having  put  ourselves  on  record  regarding  the  preparation 
that  should  be  made  by  high  school  history  teachers  for  their 
work,  let  us  turn  now  to  the  other  proposition  which  the  Committee 
have  set  for  their  consideration;  viz.,  to  what  extent  do  those 
Normal  Schools  that  definitely  undertake  to  prepare  young  men 
and  women  for  the  task  of  teaching  history  in  our  high  schools 
succeed  in  giving  their  students  the  preparation  which  complies 
with  the  standards  just  approved.  Regarding  this  proposition 
the  Committee  are  compelled  to  state  that  in  their  judgment  not 
more  than  fifteen  or  sixteen  of  the  thirty-three  Normal  Schools 
reporting  to  the  Committee  that  they  are  definitely  attempting 
to  prepare  high  school  history  teachers,  are  able  at  the  present 
time  to  give  to  their  students  the  sort  of  preparation  that  will 
conform  in  full  to  the  approved  requirements.  In  other  words 
there  are  only  15  or  16  Normal  Schools  that  are  offering  the  stand- 
ard teachers  college  course  of  120  semester  hours  and  that  are 
giving  in  such  a course  from  25  to  40  hours  of  college  history. 

This  is  at  first  glance  a very  unsatisfactory  state  of  affairs. 
But  those  who  know  conditions  in  the  Normal  Schools  and  in 
the  districts  they  serve,  realize  that  things  are  not  so  unsatis- 
factory as  they  may  seem. 

In  the  first  place,  altho  only  about  one  half  of  the  Normal 
Schools  now  preparing  high  school  teachers  have  four  years  Teach- 
ers College  course,  there  are  many  indications  that  most  of  the 
others  will  likely  have  such  courses  in  the  very  near  future.  The 
most  noticeable  tendency  in  recent  years  among  the  Normal 
Schools  that  are  given  to  the  preparation  of  high  school  teachers 
has  been  the  strengthening  and  the  lengthening  of  their  curricula. 
In  fact  most  of  the  15  or  16  Normal  Schools  that  are  now  prac- 
tically standard  Teachers  Colleges,  have  become  so  only  in  the 


last  ten  years.  It  seems  safe  to  say  that  if  the  Normal  Schools 
that  are  endeavoring  to  prepare  high  school  teachers  and  that 
yet  fall  short  of  being  standard  Teachers  Colleges,  are  allowed  to 
continue  in  their  natural  development  unmolested  by  outside 
influences,  it  will  not  be  many  years  until  they  will  become  such. 

In  the  second  place  the  Normal  Schools  that  are  doing  only 
two  or  three  years  of  Teachers  College  work  are  doing  a very  much 
needed  service  for  the  high  schools  in  their  districts.  Unfortu- 
nately there  are  many  high  schools  that  are  paying  very  meagre 
salaries  for  their  teachers,  especially  their  history  teachers,  and 
they  cannot  always  command  the  services  of  the  graduates  of 
colleges  or  teachers  colleges.  When  conditions  in  our  towns  and 
villages  change  so  that  better  remuneration  will  be  given  for  high 
school  instruction  than  is  now  generally  the  case,  then  better 
prepared  teachers  may  be  commanded,  and  the  demand  for  better 
preparation  on  the  part  of  the  teachers  will  react  upon  the  Normal 
Schools  that  are  not  yet  standard  Teachers  Colleges,  and  will 
serve  to  bring  them  up  to  that  rank  if  they  are  but  allowed  to  go 
on  in  their  development  unhindered.  Until  that  good  day  comes, 
however,  the  Normal  School  with  the  two  or  three  years  teachers 
college  course  will  continue  to  do  a work  for  the  small  high  schools 
of  the  country  that  no  other  institution  can  do  or  will  do,  and 
due  recognition  should  be  given  for  this  service. 

An  examination  of  the  15  or  16  Normal  Schools  which  are 
virtually  standard  teachers  colleges,  discloses  the  fact  that  in 
point  of  faculty,  equipment,  and  course  of  study  they  compare 
favorable  with  the  best  of  the  regular  colleges  in  their  sections  of 
the  country,  and  that  they  are  decidedly  superior  to  a great  many 
of  these  colleges.  Only  two  or  three  of  the  15  or  16  Normal 
Schools  have  less  than  two  professors  who  devote  most  if  not  all 
their  time  to  the  teaching  of  history  and  allied  subjects  of  college 
rank,  while  many  have  three  or  four  such  professors.  As  to  the 
preparation  which  these  Normal  School  professors  have  made  for 
their  work,  there  are  very  few  of  them  who  have  done  no  post 
graduate  work  in  history.  Fully  one  half  of  them  have  the  A.  M. 
degree,  and  one  half  of  the  remainder  have  done  graduate  work 
beyond  the  A.  M.  degree. 

The  material  equipment  of  these  15  or  16  Normal  Schools  for 
the  teaching  of  history  is  apparently  very  good.  In  addition  to 


10 


maps  and  charts  and  well  selected  libraries,  there  are  stereopti- 
cons  and  lantern  slides  in  abundance  in  many  of  them,  and  in 
some,  historical  museums  are  beginning  to  be  organized. 

Most  of  the  courses  in  history  offered  in  these  15  or  16  Nor- 
mal Schools  are  of  a survey  or  general  character,  but  every  one 
of  them  also  offers  several  special  courses  covering  restricted 
fields.  No  one  of  these  schools  offers  less  than  25  hours  of  his- 
tory and  several  offer  60  hours  or  more.  All  of  them  offer  work 
in  political  science,  political  economy  and  sociology,  which  ranges 
in  amount  from  10  to  30  hours. 

There  is  one  facility  which  every  Normal  School  has  that  is 
frequently  lacking  in  the  regular  college,  and  that  is  the  practice 
school  or  the  training  school.  The  importance  of  this  facility  was 
almost  overlooked  by  the  Committee  on  Certification  of  High 
School  History  Teachers.  In  their  report  the  subject  was  dis- 
missed with  a single  short  sentence  to  the  effect  that  “when  a 
practice  course  can  be  arranged,  the  best  results  can  be  obtained’’. 
We  wish  to  give  greater  emphasis  to  this  matter  than  did  the 
Committee  whose  report  has  just  been  quoted.  We  hold  that 
practice  teaching  under  proficient  supervision  is  not  only  desir- 
able but  practically  indispensable  in  the  preparation  of  teachers, 
not  only  for  the  elementary  grades  but  also  for  the  high  school 
grades  as  well. 

We  wish  also  to  insist  that  the  Normal  Schools  that  under- 
take to  prepare  high  school  teachers  should  maintain  high  school 
classes  for  practice  teaching.  As  yet  not  all  of  the  15  or  16  Normal 
Schools  that  are  practically  standard  teachers  colleges  have  such 
classes,  but  from  present  indications  it  will  not  be  very  long  until 
they  will  have  them.  However  it  is  decidedly  better  that  a pros- 
pective high  school  teacher  should  have  some  experience  in  prac- 
tice teaching,  even  if  that  work  is  done  in  the  elementary  grades, 
than  not  to  have  had  any  practice  teaching  at  all.  If  the  position 
that  has  been  taken  is  sound,  it  then  follows  that  the  institution 
that  does  not  offer  its  students  an  opportunity  to  do  practice 
teaching  under  competent  supervision  fails  in  a very  important 
matter. 

In  this  connection  attention  should  be  called  to  the  special 
emphasis  that  Normal  Schools  put  in  some  form  or  other  upon 
methods  of  teaching.  In  some  of  them  this  matter  is  dealt  with 


11 


directly  in  connection  with  the  courses  in  history,  and  in  others  in 
separate  courses  on  the  teaching  of  history.  It  is  rather  easy  to 
put  undue  stress  upon  methods  and  some  Normal  Schools  have 
been  charged  perhaps  justly  with  doing  this  veiy  thing.  But  on 
the  other  hand  many  of  the  colleges  have  either  ignored  the  mat- 
ter altogether  or  have  been  content  with  a certain  perfunctory 
effort  which  of  course  fails  to  be  of  any  benefit  to  the  prospective 
teacher. 

In  reaching  the  conclusions  that  have  been  set  forth  in  this 
report,  the  Conunittee  have  been  guided  by  the  idea  that  the 
whole  field  of  preparing  teachers  for  the  public  school  work  from 
the  kindergarten  to  the  high  school  inclusive,  should  be  open  to 
the  Normal  Schools.  Some  Normal  Schools  may  by  choice  pre- 
fer to  restrict  themselves  to  the  task  of  preparing  elementary 
school  teachers.  That  is  undoubtedly  the  biggest  field  in  educa- 
tion and  is  in  no  way  inferior  to  any  other;  and  every  Normal 
School  worthy  of  the  name  will  continue  to  render  its  larger  ser- 
vice in  that  field.  But  the  view  is  fast  gaining  ground  that  high 
school  teachers  receive  the  best  preparation  in  those  schools  where 
elementary  school  teachers  are  also  being  prepared.  A recogni- 
tion of  this  principle  is  seen  in  the  way  the  Teachers  Colleges  that 
have  been  recently  established  in  connection  with  Universities 
are  organized.  Invariably  they  cover  the  entire  field  of  educa- 
tion; they  would  fail  in  their  mission  if  they  did  not  do  so.  If 
it  is  right  and  proper  that  Teachers  Colleges  connected  with 
Universities  should  cover  the  whole  field  of  education,  it  is  equally 
right  for  the  Normal  Schools  and  the  Teachers  Colleges  that  stand 
alone  to  do  so  if  they  choose.  The  idea  that  high  school  teachers 
should  be  prepared  in  one  sort  of  school  and  elementary  school 
teachers  in  another,  is  a vicious  one.  It  tends  to  the  “creation  of 
different  standards  and  ideals  which  result  in  a serious  break  in 
the  spirit,  the  method,  and  the  character  of  the  work  of  the  child 
as  it  passes  from  the  elementary  school  to  the  high  school’’.  More- 
over the  preparation  of  elementary  school  teachers  and  of  high 
school  teachers  in  separate  institutions  begets  a kind  of  educational 
caste  which  draws  a rather  definite  line  between  the  high  school 
aristocracy  and  the  elementary  school  commonalty.  Such  a 
condition  ought  not  to  exist,  and  it  will  disappear  to  a large  extent 
wherever  if  does  now  exist,  if  whatever  restrictions  imposed  upon 


12 


Normal  Schools  by  legislation  or  by  some  outside  controlling 
educational  influences  are  removed,  and  these  schools  are  allowed 
to  enter  freely  the  whole  held  of  education. 

In  conclusion  the  Committee  wish  to  express  to  this  Associa- 
tion their  appreciation  of  the  opportunity  that  has  been  given  for 
making  this  investigation  and  submitting  this  report.  The  data 
they  have  gathered  and  on  which  they  have  based  their  report, 
are  available  for  the  use  of  all  who  may  be  interested  in  the  subject. 

E.  M.  ViOLETTE 
Sara  M.  Riggs 
P.  M.  Williams 
E.  C.  Page 
S.  E.  Thomas 
Carl  E.  Pray 
C.  N.  Anderson 


13 


APPENDIX 


QUESTIONNAIRE  ISSUED  BY  THE  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  MIS- 
SISSIPPI VALLEY  HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION  ON  “THE 
PLACE  OF  THE  NORMAL  SCHOOL  IN  THE  PREPARA- 
TION OF  HIGH  SCHOOL  HISTORY  TEACHERS’’ 

NAME  AND  LOCATION  OF  INSTITUTION. 

COURSES. 

1.  Courses  in  history  given  in  your  institution.  Mark  with  an  asterisk 
those  that  are  of  high  school  grade.  Indicate  after  each  course,  the  number 
of  times  a week  the  class  meets  and  the  length  of  the  course  in  number  of 
months. 

2.  Courses  in  government  or  political  science,  political  economy,  and 
sociology.  Mark  with  an  asterisk  those  that  are  of  high  school  grade.  Indi- 
cate after  each  course  the  number  of  times  a week  the  class  meets  and  the 
length  of  the  course  in  number  of  months. 

3.  Courses  in  the  teaching  of  history  and  geography,  or  of  history  and 
government.  Indicate  after  each  course  the  number  of  times  .a  week  the 
class  meets  and  the  length  of  the  course  in  number  of  months. 

Do  any  of  the  courses  mentioned  in  this  question  include  any  consid- 
eration of  problems  in  the  teaching  of  high  school  history?  Are  any  of  these 
courses  required  or  are  all  of  them  elective? 

FACULTY. 

4.  How  many  teachers  are  there  in  your  entire  faculty?  How  many 
devote  their  entire  time  to  the  teaching  of  history  and  allied  subjects?  How 
many  devote  only  a part  of  their  time  to  these  subjects?  (Student  teachers 
and  student  assistants  are  not  to  be  included  in  answering  this  question. 
The  term  “allied  subjects”  as  used  in  this  questionnaire  includes  government, 
political  science,  political  economy,  and  sociology.) 

5.  Preparation  of  teachers  of  history  and  allied  subjects  in  your  in- 
stitution. Indicate  after  the  name  of  each  teacher  the  Colleges  or  Normal 
Schools  and  Universities  he  attended  and  the  degrees  acquired,  and  what 
was  his  major  subject  in  graduate  work. 

6.  Books  or  monographs  of  historical  or  pedagogical  nature  that  have 
been  produced  by  teachers  of  history  and  allied  subjects  in  your  institution. 
Give  name  of  author,  title  of  work  and  date  of  publication. 

EQUIPMENT. 

7.  Library. 

Number  of  volumes  on  history  and  allied  subjects.  Are  any  of  the 
books  purchased  in  duplicate  copies?  If  so,  what  kind  of  books  are 
they? 


14 


8.  Facilities  for  Illustrative  Work: 

Maps,  stereopticon  slides,  pictures,  models,  historical  objects.  Un- 
derscore once  those  you  have.  Underscore  twice  those  you  have 
in  abundance  and  make  special  use  of. 

REQUIREMENTS. 

9.  What  are  your  entrance  requirements. 

10.  How  much  work  beyond  a four  years’  high  school  course  is  re- 
quired for  graduation  from  your  institution? 

11.  What  is  the  minimum  requirement  in  history  and  allied  subjects 

for  graduation?  ^ 

12.  What  authority  to  teach  is  conferred  with  the  diploma  that  is  grant- 
ed on  graduation? 

13  Do  you  grant  the  degrees  of  A.  B.  or  B.  S.  in  Education?  If  so, 
what  constitutes  a major  in  history  in  each  of  these  courses? 

14.  Are  your  students  required  to  do  any  practice  teaching?  If  so, 
do  they  have  an  opportunity  to  do  any  of  it  in  classes  of  high  school  grade? 
If  so,  under  what  supervision? 

NORMAL  SCHOOL  GRADUATES  AS  HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHERS. 

15.  Do  your  students  on  graduation  secure  positions  as  teachers  in 
four  year  high  schools?  If  so  about  how  many  on  an  average  each  year  secure 
such  positions  as  history  teachers? 

16.  How  many  years  of  work  in  history  and  allied  subjects  have  such 
high  school  history  teachers  had  in  your  institution? 

17.  Is  their  teaching  given  equal  recognition  along  with  that  of  grad- 
uates of  colleges  and  universities?  If  not,  by  whom  is  it  discredited,  and  why? 

18.  Are  your  graduates  taken  into  high  schools  as  teachers  because  of  a 
shortage  of  candidates  who  are  graduates  from  colleges  and  universities, 
or  are  they  chosen  on  their  merits  along  with  or  in  preference  to  such? 

EFFORTS  OF  NORMAL  SCHOOLS  TO  PREPARE  HIGH  SCHOOL 
TEACHERS. 

19.  Does  your  institution  make  any  special  effort  to  prepare  your  stu- 
dents for  high  school  teaching,  or  does  it  confine  itself  to  the  preparation  of 
teachers  for  the  rural  and  elementary  schools? 

What  reasons  would  you  give  for  Normal  Schools  undertaking  to  pre- 
pare teachers  for  high  schools.  What  reasons  would  you  give  for  them  not 
undertaking  this  work? 

20.  Suggestions  for  promoting  the  efficiency  of  Normal  Schools  in  pre- 
paring high  school  history  teachers. 

BULLETIN. 

21.  Will  you  kindly  send  at  once  to  the  Chairman  of  this  Committee, 
E.  M.  Violette,  Kirksville,  Mo.,  a copy  of  the  last  catalog  bulletin  of  your 
institutionjgiving  a syllabus  of  your  courses  in  history  and  allied  subjects. 


15 


ASSOCIATION  OF  NORMAL  SCHOOL  HISTORY  TEACHERS. 

22.  Would  you  favor  the  forming  of  a national  association  of  Normal 
School  Teachers  of  history  and  allied  subjects  for  the  promotion  of  common 
interests? 


Signed  by 


Position 


Date 


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HISTORY  AND  GOVERNMENT  BULLETINS 

OF  THE 

FIRST  DISTRICT  NORMAL  SCHOOL, 
KIRKSVILLE,  MISSOURI 

The  Division  of  History  and  Government  of  the  First  Dis- 
trict Normal  School  at  Kirksville,  Missouri  has  issued  five  bulletins 
devoted  to  the  problems  of  teaching  history  and  allied  subjects. 
Copies  may  be  had  on  application.  The  articles  that  appear  in 
them  are  as  follows: 

I.  (Sept.,  1912)— The  Place  of  History  in  the  Education  of 
Teachers;  History  Courses  in  Elementary  Schools;  Egyptian  Agri- 
culture; The  Teaching  of  Oriental  History;  The  Teaching  of 
Medieval  History  ; American  History  during  the  last  Twenty  Five 
years;  The  Use  of  Source  Material;  Setting  the  Problem;  Mc- 
Clellands Peninsular  Campaign. 

II.  (Mch.,  1914) — ^Aids  to  the  Study  of  the  Home  Life  of  the 
Ancients;  The  Land  of  Egypt;  Economic  History  in  the  High 
School;  Supplementary  Material  in  the  High  School;  The  Use  of 
Clay  Modeli^ig  in  History  Teaching;  Local  Historical  Excursions 
as  Class  Exercises;  The  Use  of  the  Bulletin  Board  in  Teaching 
History;  The  Historical  Musemn  at  Kirksville. 

III.  (Jan.,  1915) — ^An  Indian  Mound  Expedition;  Some  Neg- 
lected Phases  of  Ancient  History;  Description  of  a Course  in  the 
Teaching  of  History;  Missouri  History  in  the  Schools. 

IV.  (Jan.  1916)— A High  School  Unit  in  Economics;  Model 
of  an  Egyptian  House;  Useful  Metals  in  the  Ancient  World; 
Problem  Method  of  Teaching  History  in  the  High  School;  The 
Historical  Museum — ^How  to  Collect  and  Use  One. 

V.  (Apr.,  1916) — ^The  Place  of  the  Normal  School  in  the 
Preparation  of  High  School  History  Teachers:  Report  of  a 
Special  Committee  to  the  Mississippi  Valley  Historical  Associa- 
tion, 1916. 


